USA vs. Costa Rica: SBI Match Night Commentary

COMMERCE CITY, Colo.– It might sound strange for the second match of a 10-match tournament to be considered “Must-win” but that is what the U.S. Men’s National Team faces tonight when they take on Costa Rica at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park tonight (10pm, ESPN/UniMas).

Amid a swirl of controversy surrounding the team following the publishing of a scathing article by the Sporting News, which included several unnamed national team players allegedly criticizing Jurgen Klinsmann’s coaching methods and claiming divisions in the locker room, the U.S. team has had to fend off that distraction and prepare for a match with a team missing several players due to injuries and lack of playing time on the club level.

SBI will be providing live commentary from tonight’s match, as well as a two-hour pre-game tailgate, so feel free to join us before the match, and during the match, to talk all things USMNT as well as all about tonight’s showdown in Colorado.

Please feel free to share your thoughts and opinions, before and during the match, after the jump.

Enjoy the action (and join us on the SBI Match Night Commentary after the jump):

I’m from Nj, but I’m in montreal to catch the rbny vs impact game tomorrow, do you know where there will be usa supporters watching the game, tried contacting the ESC, but got no response, if anyone could help that would be great

I live/work in Canada now. Although Vancouver is not Montreal (not even the same country according to some in Quebec), I could find no evidence of national coverage of any CONCACAF games in Canada this round, even on delay. I am at my desk at work and going to watch on the internet.

Really, we want El Tri to win every game rather than giving points to other teams that might challenge for a berth (unlike El Tri, who will go thru). That being said, screw logic – if we have to suffer, I want them to suffer too.

Ives, I don’t see how you can say the Sporting News article included anonymous USMNT players “allegedly criticizing” Klinsmann unless you don’t trust Brian Strauss’s journalism. Do you have doubts about the reporting, or was that just an inadvertent implication?

I didn’t know that the Sporting News was still around before this imbroglio. Perhaps that’s what he meant by allegedly. They allegedly critcized because it must be verified that the Sporting News still exists.

I have been saying for a long time that if you pressure Mexico further up the field then Mexico is just as prone to easy giveaways. If you sit back and absorb offensive pressure that allows Mexico to get into a passing rythmn, and the Mexicans will pick you apart. Honduras did not allow that to happen; something the USMNT needs to do better is pressing the ball higher up the field and with multiple players.

Mexico even without a lot of possession looked not too badly contained, at least until the final 10, and managed to score (twice). The Honduras goals also came after Mexico subbed out Hernandez and Dos Santos. Oh and the heat was worse today.

It’s only in a select few markets now, and everywhere by mid April. I think it’s only on a high level package, the one up from the one that gets you fox soccer. We’ll see. Def glad to have a chance to buy it.

Look at that picture- totally covered in snow… wtf… Maybe the match gets postponed, we get healthy, and play on a green surface… If we lose because of snow on our own pitch on my birthday I am giving up birthdays.. then serving up Gulati & JK to my butcher

The snowy field is kind of obscuring their appeal. They’re clean and classy, basically the antithesis most modern US Soccer apparel. Case and point: our tacky badge that looks lifted from Microsoft Word’s ClipArt.

I feel like they should have more shovelers, it’s not like they’d have had trouble finding volunteers. Heck, they could probably find a few hundred volunteers at half time, just send someone to go get enough shovels.

Yep, up to this point DeMarcus Beasley is Man of the Match. He is earning the opportunity to play left wing in future games.

And, yep, playing this game in Denver was a big mistake and I never want to hear anyone complain again about road field conditions wherever. Just hope nobody gets injured in this mess. I fail to see why it is an advantage for our guys. It is going to get ugly in the second half.

Putting on my Captain Obvious hat: any shot from distance that bounces on it’s way would be a nightmare for a keeper. It doesn’t matter how well organized a defense is, a goal could come from nothing in a game like this.

The worst part is the ref raised his whistle to his mouth and then lowered it when the ball fell to Zusi, almost like he was playing advantage or something. A inexplicable piece of refereeing in a game filled with the inexplicable.

You guys all realize if this game is called, the U.S. and CR have to relocate themselves to another field in a couple days, play again… and then the U.S. would have to be in Azteca 48 hours later, right?

No, my point was the announcers called it a miracle. The grounds crew is using equipment to clear snow from a piece of grass. There is nothing dramatic, remarkable, or talented about it. It is snow removal, nothing more.

No, my point was the announcers called it a miracle. The grounds crew is using equipment to clear snow from a piece of grass. There is nothing dramatic, remarkable, or talented about it. It is snow removal, nothing more.

This might be the most ridiculous thing I’ve seen in terms of field conditions, application (or not) of rules, and the fact that the announcers are clueless as to what happens if it is stopped is so sad.

True, but that’s on us, not the ref. These guys are evaluated in the same way NFL refs are, an evaluation that includes things like incorrect infractions assessed, and (more to the point) infractions not identified. A set piece is an excellent chance for him to position himself and make up for the 30 thousand things he can’t possibly with his 4-6 yards of visibility. Something we should be able to pick up on after 2-3 times.

The problem now is that if they stop the game, they almost HAVE to do the unprecented and pick up the game at the point it’s stopped because these teams have to play on Wednesday so they CAN”T play another 90 minutes.

If there were any issues between players in the locker room this is the perfect game. A sloppy, wet, will yourself a win, game. The players will bond with this game for sure. It may not be that huge of a game but they will always remember it.

The worst part of this win is that it is random and doesn’t provide the test that Klinsman should have had to face. If he lost, you can’t fire him because this is stupid. If he wins, everybody says “Oh, it’s all good” without ever having a legitimate win.

This is the worst thing for the US in terms of having a clear picture of where things are. No tactics required, random results, what does this mean? yeah, we get the points but are we any good? No way to say.

if the complaints were that Klinsmann’s team had lost the “American style” of winning with sheer effort and determination, maybe this game was just what they needed to remember what it’s like to win a game that wasn’t going to be decided on ‘beautiful’ play and skill.

I know you’re excited and and you’re a JK fan. That’s cool. But to take anything away from this 1-0 win on a good bounce in these conditions just means we don’t know anything about the team. It was random “One team took 3 points.” the other gets zero from no fault of their own.

dude, you look for an argument all the time on this board. You don’t like my take on this game, fine. But let’s be clear, I am not rooting against the US (or even their coach), I just think the the test that JK has to face eventually was not faced tonight and that this is meaningless as an assessment. Tha’ts all.

David JS, that is a very reasonable tack to take. There is an argument for this win being gritty (I think it was just random but there is plenty of argument for it being tough). So yeah, I like the points and I like that the US played HARD tonight. Cheers,

I agree that what happened was ridiculous, but they wouldn’t have been able to play in Denver for at least a week. If they postponed it and played in another city in a couple days, then both teams have 2 qualifiers in 3 days in addition to the extra travel. I’m not sure there was a better solution than just pushing thru the 90 minutes tonight. My only guess would be after they saw the forecast for a snowstorm, maybe move up the kickoff time to earlier today but that wouldn’t have been without problems also. Just was a difficult spot for all involved.

So it is ok to play in 98 degree weather with 90%+ humidity, but not in the snow? The heat is way more dangerous. Further, both teams (much to Costa Rica’s credit) wanted to continue the match. Stop looking for excuses and reasons to be negative.

So, is anyone mentioning that we completely sucked in the second half?
“well, the conditions were…blah blah blah”
Costa Rica totally outplayed us for about 60 minutes. Same weather for both teams.
That needs to be addressed.

True, true. I just wanted to see better passing, more possession in the second half. Maybe impossible in those conditions, but Costa Rica seemed much more dangerous. All I’m saying. Seems like we were pretty careless for the last 30. And for god sakes, I just want EJ to chase down one ball.

Cool sarcasm bro. In all seriousness I’m sick of the rampant negativity that’s come out of the walls since the Hex began. The team won’t be in the top 3 in the group without a ton or work. We’re going to have to scrap to qualify. Welcome to a region where there is parity between the teams, as there is in most of the world. It’s not going to be easy, and it shouldn’t be easy. But winning in this more difficult group is going to give us a better change of making it through to the quarters of the world cup. That’s the goal.

Man of the Match. DMB. by a long shot. Troubling that after scoring early we didn’t create more chances late. Gomez had a poor game by his standards. Our crossing improved in the second half but the lack of a decent cross by Zusi and Cameron in the first half hurt our chances to get good shots. Would like to see Dempsey have more impact on the game. For long stretches in the second half his name was not called. Good energy by Jozy. The goal with come on Tuesday.
And is was good to win. I shouldn’t be ungrateful

Bradley turned the ball over numerous times. Second bad game in a row for MB in my opinion. But conditions cause me to grant a pass for this one. really curious to see Tuesday’s trip to Azteca. Maybe the friendly win will allow guys to play with abandon and confidence.

This is absolutely hilarious that anyone can nitpick about the technical side of this game…anyone who’s had to play competively in harsh conditions understands.
Poor Crosses? Are you serious? There was 4″ of snow on the ground!
Herc played great. So did Dempsey. Zusi and Cameron did their job. The only thing that you can be upset about is that we TRIED to play soccer at any point in this game.
We won. Step off.

I am really disappointed in all the negative comments. MIG especially. Why is it ok for Honduras to play their home games on a glorified cow pasture where you can’t settle the ball, or evidently find the lawn mower. But for the US to try to take advantage of cold weather is shameful. The snow storm was terrible. Who controls that?

How bout we SHUT UP and enjoy the effort from both teams. Gutsy, and for the most part classy. I’m not sure why Costa Rica encouraged the ref to continue play (maybe because of future fatigue in their home game next), but I am encouraged that all of CONCACAF does not dive, play the darker side of the game, etc….

As far as I’m concerned, good on us. It’s called gamesmanship. Mexico has the azteca, Ecuador and bolivia has the altitude, to name but a few conmebol countries with advantages that are implicit. Lets go to the Azteca and let Herc run wild. COYY

We’ll all remember this game. Whether we remember it for the snow or as the game that turned this qualifying tournament around for the US remains to be seen.

Now the playing of this game at altitude comes into play for the US. They should actually have better lungs than the Mexican team in Azteca because they have been at altitude for this whole week.

When we went into Azteca last year and won it was with a patchwork lineup. We could see a very similar bunch on the field for the US this time around…against a desperate Mexico. Could it actually finally be the time we beat Mexico away in WCQ?

Finally, I am not ready to buy into JK’s system just yet. But I don’t have to…if the boys do, then it could be a historic Tuesday.

There’s a lack of credit here. Weather is part of the game..yeah, usually note accumilating snow, but understanding the conditions and knowing your role. We actually played good soccer in the beginnning when we probably shouldn’t have.
Our organization was good. The backline looked great considering all that they were up against. And Guzan played very well for this type of weather.It takes a certain talent to win a game like that. It’s a talent that the US has been missing for a bit…might help us in the long run.

Great game by the USA. I thought is was a pretty cleaver move to play the Costa Ricans in the snow knowing that the condition won’t suite them. I can see the return game playing mid-day in 100 degrees heat..